1. Technical Field
The present invention concerns a structure for mounting a semiconductor device module in a printed circuit board of a computer system, and more particularly concerns a structure for mounting a semiconductor device module in a motherboard of a computer system.
2. Background of the Invention
Computer systems are information handling systems that are utilized by many individuals and businesses today. A computer system can be defined as a microcomputer that includes a central processing unit (CPU), a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory such as read only memory (ROM), a display monitor, a keyboard, a mouse or other input device such as a trackball, a floppy diskette drive, a compact disc-read only memory (CD-ROM) drive, a modem, a hard disk storage device, and a printer. A computer system's main board, which is a printed circuit board known as a motherboard, is used to electrically connect these components together. A computer system can be a desktop computer, a personal computer, a portable computer such as a notebook computer or palm-sized computer, or other type of computer.
Generally, a semiconductor device module refers to a packaged functional assembly consisting of a cache memory, central processing unit (CPU) and other electronic components mounted on a small printed circuit board (PCB). Such a semiconductor device module requires a particular mounting structure which is different from that used for mounting a standard CPU in the motherboard.
Meanwhile, one of the important factors that must be considered for the mounting structure is the user's upgradablity of the semiconductor device module with the development of the semiconductor technology.
I have found that a replacement of semiconductor device module can be difficult and inconvenient. Efforts have been made to improve coupling an integrated circuit to a printed circuit board.
Exemplars of recent efforts in the art include U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,370 for method and APPARATUS FOR A MODULAR INTEGRATED APPARATUS FOR MULTI-FUNCTION COMPONENTS issued to Cromwell, U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,259 for METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING POWER TO A CPU USING ANADAPTOR CARD issued to Dahl, U.S. Pat. No. 5,705,932 for SYSTEM FOR EXPANDING SPACE PROVIDED BY TEST COMPUTER TO TEST MULTIPLE INTEGRATED CIRCUITS SIMULTANEOUSLY issued to Fredrickson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,879 for METHOD OF MOUNTING A SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE TO A HEAT SINK issued to Goeschel, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,617 for APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING AN INTEGRATED CIRCUIT PACKAGE INSTALLED IN A SOCKET ON A CIRCUIT BOARD issued to Murphy, U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,495 for HIGH DENSITY MULTI-CHIP INTERCONNECTION AND COOLING PACKAGE issued to Kucharek, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,084,242 for ELECTRONIC POSTAGE WEIGHING SCALE issued to Conti.
While these recent efforts provide advantages, I note that they fail to adequately provide a mounting structure of a semiconductor device for a computer system.